Lagos govt tasks civil servants on boosting economy

The Lagos State Government has charged its civil servants to acquire commercial skills that would enable them cope with international best practices to enhance market driven economy.

Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM) Annual Yearly Merit awards, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who was given the Award of ‘Best Practice Human Resource of the year, urged civil servants to acquire commercial skills and behaviours.

He argued that such skills would boost their confidence and competences in a world where services are increasingly commissioned from the private and voluntary sectors.

“We need to take proactive decisions that would be based on knowledge of markets, and be judged on whether taxpayers’ money has been spent wisely to deliver the right outcome,” said Ambode, who was represented by the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Benson Oke.

He added that the civil service must lead and manage change, saying: “change is a constant feature of the modern Civil Service. We need to manage these changes and ensure that our teams are equipped to embrace new ways of working.”

He also encouraged the civil service to deliver successful projects and programmes, noting that “This calls for increasing our ability to deliver on Government’s priorities, ‘right first time’, drawing on project management disciplines and methodologies to achieve predictable, consistent, robust results.

“The human resources in the civil service must be capable of redesigning services and delivering them digitally – ensuring that the civil service is equipped to redesign services around the user in order to improve delivery, value for money and agility for the future, using the power of digital,” he stated.

However, Ambode noted that the task before public sector entities in contemporary times is very daunting, as the challenges confronting governments of multicultural, cosmopolitan, and global cities such as Lagos, with an ever-expanding population were herculean.

“Among many others, the government has to provide for the security, transportation, education, and housing of a teeming and diversified population. In order to do this, the government has to craft policies and strategies that take into consideration the demographic composition of residents of Lagos State.

These policies and strategies have to be constantly tested, monitored, reviewed and, when found adequate, have to be fully implemented.